Youths brave darkness, jellyfish to cross 21-mile-wide channel in less than 9 hours

That was the time it took a handful of 14-year-olds to swim the Catalina Channel.

“They broke the record,” said swim coordinator Doug Burleigh, who expected the swim to take nine to 10 hours. The Channel Cats, a relay team of nine boys and girls, have become the youngest to complete the 21-mile journey and fastest in their age group.

Six of the teens began swimming from Catalina Island about midnight Wednesday in one-hour rotations, reaching the Palos Verdes Peninsula on Thursday morning.

Chula Vista resident Carson Gossler, whose idea it was to go swimming in the dark, took the second leg, which meant he had to swim twice.

While he said the water temperature and current weren’t a problem, the schools of jellyfish were.

“You just had to keep swimming,” Carson said. “You’d go through huge patches. It was not pleasant. I got stung pretty bad and it made it difficult to focus.”

Carson swam his first leg from about 2 to 3 a.m.

“It was pitch black, but I wasn’t very nervous,” he said. “I was more excited.”

Eastlake High School student Valerie Chin swam the fourth leg and was also stung multiple times by jellyfish.

“It was really dark so you couldn’t see them or dodge them,” she said. “It was intense.”

She said swimming in the dark was nerve-wracking.

“On our way to the actual island, it was getting darker and darker,” she said. “We saw a couple of seals when we got to Catalina Island. We also saw dolphins and flying fish on our way out there.”

Valerie was forced to swim in the choppiest conditions.

“The most difficult part of the swim for me was trying to stay in a straight line, in between the kayak and the boat,” Valerie said.

Despite the challenge she said she’d do it again if given the opportunity.

“It’s the most amazing feeling ever that you actually did something like that,” she said. “There are very few people that can do this.”

Carson agreed.

“We succeeded in the goal that we set out to accomplish, which was breaking nine hours and also breaking the record for the youngest swimmers,” he said.

The mark they broke was nine hours, 34 minutes and 54 seconds, set last year by a group of 14- and 15-year-olds in the mixed gender, under-20 category.

Valerie’s mom, Eva, said the kids work hard to achieve a goal and supported one another along the way.

“In the ocean, what I’ve noticed is it doesn’t mean anything if you’re the strongest swimmer or the fastest because in the ocean it’s the mental strength they have to have,” Chin said. “They’re such good friends. There were no egos. They were cheering for each other.”

Joining Carson and Valerie from Chula Vista were Cayden Pangelinan and Morgan Hartley (an alternate), all members of South Bay Aquatics.

The other relay swimmers were Isabella Back from Coronado, Ethan McVeigh from San Diego and Jacee Frivaldo from Scottsdale, Ariz.

Two more alternate swimmers were on hand in case of seasickness, injury or other issues: Phoebe Dillard from El Cajon and Colin Grubensky from San Diego.

“I hope the kids take away a feeling of accomplishment and fulfilling a goal that they had set for themselves,” Burleigh said.